Swift as Desire was not the novel I was expecting, but it was a novel that touched me deeply. It is different from other Esquivel's writing in the sense that it's more auto-biographical and personal. Swift as Desire is devoted to Esquivel's father- the telegraphist. Indeed, much of this novel describes a strong bond and love between a father and a daughter that seems to resist even death itself. The mixing of magical realism with the deeply personal narrative didn't always work well stylistically, though. Often I felt like I was reading two separate novels. This review will contain spoilers for 'both' of them, so make sure to stop reading if you want to avoid them.
Swift as Desire starts as a novel about Júbilo, a man with an extraordinary gift of understanding people, born from a mixed marriage of an ingenious man and a Spanish woman. There is talk about his cosmic connection to the Universe, the Mayan and Aztec culture and so on. Naturally, you as a reader expect to read about his life and adventures in the fascinating multicultural Mexico.
However, that is not what this novel ultimately is about. It is more about one daughter dealing with the imminent death of her father and trying to make sense of the estrangement of her parents.
The novel keeps making you think it is going to venture deeper into magic realism, but instead it focuses mainly on deeply personal examination of Júbilo's marriage to Lucha made by their daughter who is taking care of him while he is dying. Her trying to make sense of things is what this novel is really about and much of it seems to be autobiographical writing. A daughter grieving for her father who is dying and in some ways also for her mother who became estranged from her husband. A daughter grieving for the loss of love between her parents, somehow instinctively understanding how strong their bond was and wondering what could have possibly driven them apart. In other words, this novel is more family realism than magic realism, as it draws towards its end you'll see there are no adventures besides the great mystery of love and married life.
“Love is a verb. One demonstrates one's love through one's actions. And a person can only feel loved when someone else shows their love with kisses, hugs, caresses, and gifts. A lover will always promote the physical and emotional well-being of the person he loves.”
― Laura Esquivel, Swift as Desire
Swift as Desire is very focused on the life of one family, the other characters and their faiths seem like only an after-thought. There seems to be a lot of repetition in it as well, as if the author herself is trying to remind herself of certain things. In some sense, this novel feels unfinished. I can even understand why some readers didn't like this novel or felt disappointed with it. The narrative frustrated me a little, I have to admit. Despite the non-linear and chaotic story-telling, it wasn't difficult to follow Júbilo's life story especially since there were so many spoilers and hints in the story itself, the only thing is- was that really necessary? There were no other story lines that needed to be merged together, it was a story about one family and while some digressions made sense, there seemed to be too many of them and they took away from the personal aspect of the book.
Was there really a need for so many digressions and narrative time shifts? The basic plot seemed pretty obvious, driven by one cartoonish antagonist and there was perhaps no need to keep building all that suspense with spoilers within the narrative itself, all that foreshadowing and repeating about how the antagonist will get his revenge- not when the ending will be a deeply personal story of loss and tragic death of a sibling you never knew about. It felt out of place. The story could have been told in a more linear way and still be emotional and powerful. All those time shifts almost made me disconnected from everything that was going on. What was really interesting about this novel was the excellent examination of what it means to love, the psychological analysis of married life and its challenges as well as parenting. What was really touching was the autobiographical description of dealing with the death of your parent. This 'personal' aspect of the novel was brilliant, but the general plot and narrative- it left a lot to be desired.
This novel is not a stylistic success. I felt it didn't manage to walk the fine line between magic realism and autobiographic writing, one took over the other and at times I felt felt like I'm reading a sketch of a novel but at the same time it managed to touch me deeply. It is a novel one can learn much from, a novel filled with love. Indeed, Swift as Desire is incredibly touching in its examination of grief and wonderfully philosophical in its study of marriage. It is a novel that made me tear up, so it definitely deserves five starts from me. I'm happy I bought and read this novel yesterday, now I have a pretty copy of it (with the original illustration) that I'll be sure to pass on to someone.